Alvin Naistus gets 18 years for role in 2009 death of Morgan Doucette

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A Saskatoon man serving an unrelated life sentence for murder has received another 18-year sentence for his role in a historical homicide.

Provincial court Judge Brad Mitchell imposed the prison term — a joint submission from Crown prosecutor Mike Pilon and defence lawyer Shea Neudorf — at the sentencing hearing for Alvin Patrick Junior Naistus.

He was initially charged with first-degree murder in the death of 33-year-old Morgan Doucette, but pleaded guilty to manslaughter in September.

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According to police, Doucette was stabbed at a house in the 400 block of Avenue H South on Nov. 16, 2009. Naistus, now 33, was 18 years old at the time.

Six years later, he fatally stabbed 44-year-old Billy Johnston in the parking lot of the since-closed Northwoods Inn on Idylwyld Drive. He argued it was self-defence at his 2017 trial, but a jury convicted him of second-degree murder.

Naistus was serving his life sentence, with no eligibility for parole for 10 years, at Grand Cache Institution in Alberta when he was charged last year — 14 years after Doucette’s death.

The Crown successfully requested a publication ban on the facts of the case — including Naistus’s role in the killing — to ensure trial fairness if two other co-accused men elect to be tried by a jury.

Dexter Saul Laplante is charged with second-degree murder, while Michael Wayne Gamble is charged with first-degree murder. Last month, both were committed to stand trial at Saskatoon Court of King’s Bench.

Through victim impact statements read in court, Doucette was described as the “protector” of his large family. Relatives said he loved kids so much that he cared for his partner’s children in addition to his own.

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Brother Harley Mapes taught Doucette in his home community of Sandy Bay. In his statement, he wrote that Doucette had a “sharp curiosity and enthusiasm for debate.”

He said despite Doucette’s rebellious nature and tense relationship with his father, he still sought guidance. Mapes said they discussed trivial and profound topics, including the meaning of life, the existence of God, suffering and what it means to be a man.

Asking Naistus to look at her while she spoke, Dionne Doucette said her brother was intelligent, but had many barriers holding him back in life. She said she watched him struggle and “fight to the bitter end to make something out of nothing.”

Looking out from the prisoner’s box at framed photos of Doucette, clutched by his family in the courtroom gallery, Naistus offered an apology.

“I just want to say I’m sorry for what I did.”

Doucette’s mother, Margaret, told Naistus that she prays he will walk a “different path” and become part of the solution instead of the problem.

For 15 years, Dionne said she just wanted to know what happened to her brother.

“All I want is closure. I don’t want revenge.”

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Naistus’s 18-year manslaughter sentence will run concurrently to his life sentence.

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